Portland Marathon 2008

photo:Joe English


I went out too fast. For the first three miles I kept my heart rate below 151. I was flying and feeling great. Then I allowed my heart rate to get up to 164 and I would back off. I kept this up for about 14 miles. Looking at my paces they were more consistent with what I wanted to do than what I was fit enough to do at this point. I ran 8:09's for the first 6.2 miles, 8:04's for the next 6.9 miles, then...8:38's for 8miles and finally 8:58 for the last 5 miles. Those last five miles were no doubt slower than that but I at least tore down the hills to make up for my sluggish flat and uphill pace. Darin, Ronda, Troy and Trisha were out in the rain supporting me with smiles. Seeing all my brothers from Portland Fire always cheered me and gave me energy. Darin jumped in to pace me from mile 18. I appreciated his helpful reminders to use the downhills, shorten my stride on the uphills and run in a straight line- no I'm not being sarcastic...this strategy seemed to elude me yesterday as I chose to run in serpentine style.

The rain was not a factor. It was warm and dry when we started and when the rains came I smiled to myself. This is Portland. I haven't run a marathon in over three years. I'm reminded that there is definitely a science to it. First, you have to do the work- missing workouts, for whatever reason, is not going to get me to my goal. Second, I have to FOLLOW my race strategy. It was a great experience to remember the flow and feel of the race...they hurt! I definitely want to come back and chip away at my PR (now 3:41:15). With training I believe I'm capable of a 3:30, maybe faster. Back to work this morning. My knees are a bit sore. I'm moving tenderly but feel pretty good. I woke up this morning and have some how decided to cut myself some slack and be happy with my performance yesterday. There is always room for improvement- I look forward to working towards faster miles. But 341:15 was a great time for October 5, 2008.

Finally, my friend Ken had never run a marathon. He will soon begin training for his first Ironman in my college town Madison, WI. He decided to run Portland, two weeks before the race. He was coming off a half ironman and decided to run easy 3-4 times a week and then just see what would happen. Well what happened was a 3:15! He qualified for Boston and walked around like he had merely completed a 5K. The guy is born to run and will be a real threat in Madison next year. I can't wait to be there on the sidelines cheering him on. Great job Ken!!!!